Researchers have built gliders working with an AI that learn to fly like birds – BGR

It took a lot of humanity to learn how to fly, but artificial intelligence is now doing something similar and in a fraction of the time. No, there are no robots that build planes like the Wright brothers, but some AI-powered gliders actually learn how to navigate the air like birds, and they're doing well.

The researchers equipped a glider with an advanced algorithm and a control system allowing it to navigate the winds in the same way as the birds. By finding updrafts that help keep it in the air, the glider can slide in the air indefinitely, just like birds trying to minimize their energy production.

The research that was published in Nature, describes how these wind currents are used by birds. "The flight of birds is often based on thermal (thermal) plumes ascending into the atmosphere as they search for prey or migrate over great distances," the document says. The researchers then explain that their sophisticated AI glider works in exactly the same way.

Without being able to flap its wings, the glider is totally at the mercy of the wind and, because of this, it is obliged to look for air columns that will push it higher.

"A navigation strategy was determined solely from the glider's pooled experiences, collected over several days in the field," the paper says. "The strategy is based on on-board methods to accurately estimate vertical wind acceleration and glide roll pairs, which serve as navigational landmarks."

In simple terms, the glider can tell when it is approaching an updraft and then use that wind to maximize its time in the air. Over time, he learns what to look for to identify growing thermal plumes and his onboard flight controller adjusts his approach to take advantage of it.

It's unclear how birds can locate and skillfully exploit the thermals, but researchers suggest that reinforcement learning – much like the glider algorithm – is likely to learn how to make the most of their time in the air .